GAME STORY: Canucks 2, Oilers 1

VANCOUVER, BC - Tyler Myers scored midway through the third period for the eventual game-winner as the Canucks edged the Oilers 2-1 on Saturday to end Edmonton's four-game win streak.

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FIRST BLOOD

It was one of the strangest goals of the season but it counted the same for the Canucks as they broke the scoreless tie at 12:59 of the middle frame. Bo Horvat ended up getting credit for the 1-0 marker on the power play as he and several other Vancouver players incessantly jabbed at a loose puck in the crease until it finally snuck over the goal line before Mikko Koskinen could gain control. The greasy tally was Horvat's 12th of the season.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Exactly four minutes after Horvat's rather unique opening goal, the Oilers power play finally clicked with some perfect passing to tie the game at 1-1. After both Connor McDavid and Darnell Nurse made nice plays to keep the puck in the attacking zone, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins set up Leon Draisaitl for a one-timer from his trigger spot to the goalie's left and the reigning league MVP unleashed a howitzer past Thatcher Demko for his 16th of the season.

SAVE OF THE GAME

The Oilers opened the third period with a relentless shift from the five-man unit of McDavid, Draisaitl, Nurse, Kailer Yamamoto and Tyson Barrie, but when the Canucks finally got the puck they were able to spring Nils Hoglander on a partial breakaway. Koskinen was up for the challenge, though, as he made a blocker denial on the Swedish sniper's determined attempt.

TURNING POINT

Myers put all of his 6-foot-8 frame into a blistering slap shot at 9:23 of the third period to give the Canucks a 2-1 lead on the towering blueliner's fourth goal of the season. The Oilers were unable to net the equalizer, despite a six-on-four advantage in the closing minutes, as Myers' tally held up as the GWG.

TOP PERFORMER

Demko was nearly perfect on Saturday, making 34 saves with the only blemish coming on Draisaitl's absolute rocket man-advantage marker in the middle frame. The 25-year-old netminder has now won five of his last six starts, improving his record to 9-10-1 this season.

FACT CHECK

According to Sportsnet Stats, as a result of McDavid recording the second assist on Draisaitl's power-play goal in the middle frame, Edmonton's dynamic duo has factored in on 26 tallies together this season to rank first in the NHL.
According to StatsCentre, since that power-play goal gave Draisaitl 45 points this season, he and McDavid became the first set of teammates to, in consecutive years, record 45 or more points apiece in their team's first 30 games since Wayne Gretzky, Bernie Nicholls and Luc Robitaille did so with the Los Angeles Kings in 1988-89 and 1989-90.

NEXT UP

It's a quick stop in Vancouver for the Oilers as they'll spend the night before heading back to Alberta on Sunday in anticipation of two more road games against the Flames. Edmonton and Calgary will continue the Battle of Alberta on Monday and Wednesday at the Saddledome.

PARTING WORDS

"I think it could have went either way," Ethan Bear said of his team's effort in the low-scoring affair. "We tried to play a tight road game and I don't think we gave up a whole lot. It was a tight game right to the end, but that just shows you every little play counts."
"I thought we played pretty well for the most part," Draisaitl said. "We definitely had enough chances to win the game. Their goalie was good at the end, but I thought we had a couple chances where the puck could have easily went in. They made some good blocks. It's unfortunate."

"I've been around the game a long time and eight or nine times out of 10 that gets blown down, but I guess tonight it wasn't," Head Coach Dave Tippett said of Vancouver's first goal. "They said it wasn't covered up, it banged around there and it ended up in our net."
"We're coming here to win, not just get even," Tippett said of the tie game heading into the third period. "That's the disappointing thing. We did some things alright and we had some chances, but we didn't win. We've got to come here with the mindset of doing whatever it takes to win, and we didn't do that tonight."